Thermophotovoltaic (TPV) conversion consists in placing a photovoltaic (PV) cell in front of a high-temperature thermal emitter. Such systems convert heat to electricity radiatively while naturally enabling energy storage—an attractive pathway to mitigate solar intermittency. In solar-driven TPV, the storage material is heated to ~1000–1500 °C by concentrated sunlight; the stored energy is later re-emitted as thermal radiation and converted by TPV cells. 

A key challenge is efficiently absorbing and storing concentrated solar energy. Conventional opaque media can develop strong internal temperature gradients, limiting performance. At PROMES-CNRS, we explore optically transparent storage materials (e.g., quartz and transparent PCMs) that let sunlight pass through the storage and be absorbed at the cavity walls, inverting the thermal gradient and improving storage efficiency.

We are offering 2–3 internship positions within this research program, covering complementary aspects from modeling to experiments: 

• Predictive modeling of solar TPV systems employing transparent PCMs using 1D implicit heat-transfer models coupled to TPV conversion models (MATLAB). 

• Experimental demonstration of a solar TPV system with transparent thermal storage using the existing prototype operated under the 6-kW solar concentrator at PROMES. 

• Radiative exchange modeling and optimization between a hot emitter and a TPV cell in a mirror-based cavity using Monte-Carlo ray tracing (Ansys Zemax OpticStudio).